Add y grid only to plot

I would like to add solid y grid lines to my plot according to the y tick in gca.

so I tried:

ax = gca;
ax.YGrid = 'on';
ax.GridLineStyle = '-';

However, this did not work and there is no grid at all in my plot, please help.

[Adam]

This shows a grid when I try it. Are you sure you have YTick marks defined?

The grid shows grey, but you can change its colour and other properties to make it stand out more

[chlor thanks]

I believe so, this is what I have for defining YTick..

set(gca, 'XTick', x, 'YTick',[-0.01, 0, 0.01])
ax = gca;
ax.YGrid = 'on';
ax.GridLineStyle = '-';

and after double checking, I do not have even a hint of grid anywhere at all in my plot.

[dpb]

What does

ylim

return? Sounds like you've got the grid values outside those of the axes y limits.

If that doesn't answer the question, give us a complete sample that causes the problem we can run w/o making anything up for comparison.

[chlor thanks]

Yes I do have a sample for you, this is a continuous problem from my last thread http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/294402-create-plot-from-large-data-in-excel

The code that I tried:

[data,text,raw] = xlsread('run.xlsx');
lgnd = text(2:3,1);                               
xtlbl = text(1,2:end);                                
x = 1:size(data,2);                              

figure(1)
plot(x, data, 's-')
legend(lgnd, 'Location','SE')
set(gca, 'XTick', x, 'XTickLabel',xtlbl, 'YTick',[2 4])
ylim([0 9])
ax = gca;
ax.YGrid = 'on';
ax.GridLineStyle = '-';

only gives plot but no gridline

[Adam]

I doubt it will solve this problem as I'm sure your instructions are being applied to the correct axes anyway, but I would suggest re-arranging your code above as follows (untested, just off the top of my head, but I think it should work).

That is, get the axes handle straight away (I do this on the same line as creating a figure to ensure that focus does not change between creation of the figure and the axes) and store it, then use the explicit axes handle for further instructions instead of keep using gca which is subject to the whims of whatever axes in focus if other figures exist and get clicked on etc, especially if you break in the code with a breakpoint between instructions:

figure(1); ax = gca;
plot(ax, x, data, 's-')
legend(ax, lgnd, 'Location','SE')
set(ax, 'XTick', x, 'XTickLabel',xtlbl, 'YTick',[2 4])
ylim(ax, [0 9])
ax.YGrid = 'on';
ax.GridLineStyle = '-';

[chlor thanks]

Now I am sad, this didn't work... but thank you though! I appreciate your inputs as I am still learning everything little by little.

When I tried your code, it looks like the same results:

[dpb]

Attach the figure you get from the above code so we can see what it is that you're actually complaining about.

What happens if you simply do

plot(randn(5,1))
gca.YGrid='on';

? Also attach the results of the above.

[chlor thanks]

This is what I got when I simply do

plot(randn(5,1))
gca.YGrid='on';

I wonder y...

[chlor thanks]

I edited the comment now all my plotting results are in the previous comments as well.

[Adam]

plot(randn(5,1))
gca.YGrid='on';

is not valid syntax to do this. You are actually creating a struct called 'gca' in that scenario. gca does not support the new class notation so you would have to use:

plot(randn(5,1))
set( gca, 'YGrid', 'on' );

but that won't change your original code where you do don't do this anyway.

[chlor thanks]

This works! Many thanks Adam!!!

[dpb]

"gca.YGrid='on';is not valid syntax to do this."

I debated about that; not having HG2 wasn't able to check; I (unfortunately) let the previous posting influence in making an unwarranted assumption so left it instead of using the old set notation trying to "get with it" for the new stuff... :(

At least finally uncovered the issue; as I suspected it wasn't profound.

[chlor thanks]

Everything works wonderfully after Adam points out what is wrong with my code.

It turns out that if I want to change the gridline color without affecting the tick color in my 2011 matlab, I need to manually draw those lines instead of using YGrid, so another type of fun for me... Just a little side story.

But still I learnt a lot from your comments, thank you guys!!

Answer 1

[Mathieu]

Hello,

I did something like this in my current project : I create my own lines to simulate grid like I want (and set the HitTest property to off to not take care of these lines with matlab cursor for example) through multiple plots. It is not very elegant but it is working very well and permit you to change as you want the position of the grid.

[chlor thanks]

That is smart, if I can't figure things out I will have to give it a try, thanks for sharing :D

Answer 2

[Valerii Abramenko]

Hello,

If someone else needs the grid for only one axis, the answer is here (set(gca, 'YGrid', 'on', 'XGrid', 'off')):

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/57199-a-command-for-having-the-ygrid-on-only-on-figure-with-set-gca-how

[Ata Chizari]

Thanks, I needed it.

[Klont]

What about minor gridlines for only one axis?

grid(gca,'minor') 

displays them for both X and Y, ignoring

set(gca,'XGrid','on','YGrid','off')

[Francesco]

set(gca, 'XMinorGrid', 'on', 'YMinorGrid', 'off')